Cloud Storage

Technology is one of the most dynamic entity in this world. It changes faster than we can imagine. The revolution in the field of technology has brought about a tremendous change in the world of computing, thus making it faster and safer. Even though this revolution has been incredibly beneficial for the users, it has also had its share of problems, which no one thought we would ever encounter. One such problem is that of data storage.

While some people resort to high-capacity hard drives for data storage, others resort to external storage devices. There also exist people who delete their old data to make way for new files. All this comes down to one thing―there is so much to save and so little place for it. This is where the cloud storage system comes into the picture. Its amazing ability to save copious amount of data has made it quite popular among the stalwarts of the field.

What is Cloud Storage?

Cloud storage is basically an off-site data storage facility, managed by a third party, which allows the user to store data on a remote database known as the data center. Simply put, you store the data in a data storage application on the network, instead of storing it on your hard drives or external drives. There are hundreds of cloud storage service providers on the web, some of which only facilitate the storage of digital images, while others have no restrictions as far as the type of data is concerned. While some service providers charge a stipulated fee, others provide the service for free. There also exist some service providers who provide a certain amount of space for free and thereafter, charge a nominal fee.

How Does it Work?

As we mentioned earlier, the entire data you store in this medium is saved at the data center. A service provider may have either one or more than one data servers connected to the Internet. When you subscribe to this service, you send the data in the form of files to the server, where it is stored. You can access this data through a web-based interface either by accessing the files saved on the server, or by retrieving them from the sever. These service providers have hundreds of data servers as a part of the network. The backup of the information you store is saved on different servers, which don't resort to the same source of power supply. Most of the companies in this business upgrade their storage capacity on a regular basis, so the user doesn't have to worry about running out of space.

Benefits and Drawbacks

You can access this data through the means of the Internet as and when required. This is quite useful as you don't have to carry any physical storage medium everywhere you go. The fact that it can be accessed from the Internet means you can access your data anywhere on the go. You can also let other people access this data from the network. The fact that the information is stored on different servers in the form of online backup also means that it is safe from problems such as power supply failure. The major drawback of the cloud storage system is the security of data, as any data stored on a remote server is vulnerable to data theft.

This system of storing data is fast scaling the popularity chart. That being said, one has to take a serious note of the benefits as well as drawbacks of this system into consideration before subscribing to it. On a safer note, it is best to avoid storing crucial information on such systems. When availing this facility, you should also take into consideration the security clause of the service provider.